Hindu statesman Zed offers condolences on King Abdullah’s death

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed has offered condolences on the death of King Abdullah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s head of the state, who died on January 23 in a Riyadh hospital.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that they were saddened by the passing of King Abdullah, about 90.

Rajan Zed pointed out that King Abdullah was slowly but steadily introducing long awaited reforms in the highly conservative Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During his regime, women were appointed to previously all-male and influential Shura Council; Saudi Arabia announced giving right to women to vote and run in future municipal elections, and allowed its women to compete in the Olympics for the first time; and a woman became editor-in-chief of a Saudi Arabia daily newspaper for the first time. Though largely symbolic measures, these were still quite significant by Saudi Arabia standards, Zed added.

Zed hoped that the new king Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 79, would continue on Abdullah’s reform path as relaxing restrictions on women and speech would further strengthen Saudi Arabia.